William b



(No Model.)

W. B. PALMER.

SEWING MACHINE.

No. 305,531. Patented Sept. 23, 1884.

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applied.

TATES lUNIrn ywILLiAM n. PALMER, or

GREENWIGH, NEW Youri.-

- sEwiNGMACi-IINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 305,531,` date septerner ae, ie.

Application filed March 19, 1884. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, WILLIAM 1 3;4 PALMER, of Greenwich, in the county of Washington and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in `SewingMachines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the compl-ete machine; Fig. 2, a section of the means for operating the loop-carrying mechanism, and Fig. 8 a section on the lineg/ yof Fig. 2.

My invention has for its object to improve that class ofsewing-machines which are employed in button-hole or overseaming work; and it consists in certain novel improvements, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The machine made by the American Button Hole Overseaming and Sewing Machine Company may be taken as atype ofthatto which my improvements are intended especially to be The patent of George Rehfuss, dated November 21, 1865, No. 51,086, may be referred to as showing the general features of such machine. Upon examination of this patent it will be seen that the needle-arm is given a vibratory motion by means of a cam located on the main drive-shaft and operating upon one of its ends; that the needle-bar is connected to the needle-arm and receives vertical reciprocating motion therefrom; that said needle-bar plays through a sleeve, which carries at its lower end a hook or finger for transf ferring the loopof thread from the lower needie into the path ofthe upper needle; that said needle-bar is provided with a pin or4 projection, which enters a corresponding spiral slot in thel sleeve, whereby as the needle-bar is moved up and down, the pin on it traveling in the spiral slot causes the sleeve and its iinger to be rotated, the upper end of the sleeve being held so as to permit of such rotation,but at the same time prevent it from being displaced vertically.

It is found that in the'practical working of a machine constructed as just described the operation of the needle-bar pin-in the slot of the sleeve causes the edges of said slot to be in a short time worn to such an extent as to permit an objectionable amount of lost motion between the cooperating surfaces, which affects the promptness and regularity of the throw of the loop-shifting finger on the sleeve; furthermore, that the communication of motion needle-bar tends to loosen the sleeve in its upper bearings. These defects I propose to rem-` edy as follows: I dispense entirely with the slot in the sleeve and the corresponding pin on the needle-bar, and I form upon or attach to the upper end ofthe sleeve(lettercd A in the accomf panying drawings) a pinion, B, and with this pinion I cause a horizontal]y-reciprocating l rack-bar, C, to engage, said bar being operatn ed at suitable intervals from some moving part of the machine, though preferably by means of a connecting-rod, D, jointed to a pivoted actuating-cam, F, on the-main drive-shaft G of the machine. By this arrangement of mechanism the sleeve A, carrying the loop-transferring iinger a,is given the necessary :rotary motion,while lthe application of power to it is :in a direction which does not tend to loosen itin its bearings nor to alter the relation of the looptransferring ingento the needles, even after long-continued use, as is the case in the mav chines employing the pin and` spiral-slot arrangement iirst described. rlhis change in the means for actuating the sleeve of the looptransferring finger is advantageous in another respect-to wit, it relieves the needle-arm of the labor of operating the sleeve through the the sleeve to be operated by independent devices driven from the main shaft, leaving the needle-arm to only perform thev function of driving the needle-bar, and rendering the machine as a whole capable of being run more rapidly and effectively.

'Io still greater increase the efficiency of the to the sleeve from the vertically-reciprocating lever, E, whose lower end co-operates with an i instrumentality of the needle-bar', and causes v machine I have, instead of extending downward the inner part of the needle-arm and causing it to engage with a cam on the main drive-shaft, as heretofore, somewhat shortened said inner part of the needle-arm and connected to it by a universal joint a pitman or connecting-rod, H, formed at its lower end to IOO ' embrace an eccentric, I, on themain shaft G.

is caused to Work againsta cam, as heretofore.

I' have illustrated in the drawings a complete machine, but have not described in detail all its'parts nor their mode of operation, as they are, except in the particulars especially indicated herein, Well known and familiar to any person skilledpin the art.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an oversealning sewing-machine, and in combination With the reciprocating needlebar and the stitching mechanism thereof, the

sleeve surrounding the needle-bar, carrying the loop-transferring finger and the pinion or gear-section, and the reciprocating rack mount ed inthe overhanging arm or head of the machine and engaging the said pinion, substantially as described.

2. In an overseaming sewing-machine, and in combination with the stitch-forming mechanism thereof, the needle-bar, sleeve A, carrying the loop-transferring iinger a and pinion B, the rack C, arranged toy slide in the head and co-operate with the pinion B, as described, y and the pivoted connecting-rod D, the lever E, and the operating-cam, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

` WILLIAM B. PALMER. Witnesses:

JEssE V, PALMER, MELVILLE CHURCH. 

